Chapter 71- Did He...?

Charlotte ran.

Her lungs burned. Her hair whipped in the wind.

The underbrush of the forest was heavy, reaching forth and snagging at her limbs and clothes. Pulling, scratching, and tearing. At one point a branch caught the collar of her blouse and it ripped. Shredding the fabric and her skin in the process.

Charlotte pushed forward.

Not only had she just killed a man, at one point she had actually considered that him taking her life would be for the best. She had thought it would stop the anguish of her losing those she loved most and end the misery she had found herself in with Beck. The darkness of the action and her thoughts seemed to threaten her soul. She needed light. She needed forgiveness and healing.

She wasn't even sure where she was going or where she ultimately belonged anymore. She just knew she had to get there.

Forward. Never back.

The fog obscured her vision. Her own labored breathing looked like puffs of smoke in the cold mountain air.

Suddenly Charlotte's foot caught, and her body lurched forward, crashing to the earth. Gravel and rocks bit into her flesh and stuck to her hands and legs. Dirt and mud coated her skin. She scrambled to her feet, noting the blood flowing freely from a gash on her upper thigh where a sharp boulder had torn through her skirt and into the muscle below.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins. Where was he? Where was the voice who had called out to her in love and support through the past day? She needed him. More than ever. She was a ship being tossed around on the dark seas of a stormy ocean, of a stormy and confused heart.

She had nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to take shelter. She was confused and lost.

Be still and know I am here.

Charlotte stopped running. Taking a deep breath, she paused and turned in slow circles trying to find any landmark that looked familiar. She needed guidance.

Then it appeared. Like a beacon of hope. A lighthouse on the coast.

His red serge calling to her from the mute grey world she had found herself lost in.

"Nathan," Charlotte's lips formed his name, but no sound came forth.

Her legs started carrying her forward out of sheer will and determination.

He was a mirage. She knew it had to be. He was just a figment of her imagination.

A dream.

Her body seemed to float down the mountain side. She paid no more mind to the twigs and branches in her way. She no longer saw the path in front of her. She only saw God's guiding light to him.

"Nathan!" She cried out once more.

His head snapped. Bolting to attention upon hearing her gravelly voice call out his name.

He saw her! The look in his steely blue eyes was one she knew so well.

It was love.

"Charlotte!" He cried back with equal desperation. Clawing and climbing his way to her.

When he came to the edge of a small clearing, Nathan leaned his rifle against the tree to his side, turning back towards Charlotte a split second before she crashed into him, knocking them off-balance. Charlotte threw her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his solid form wherever she could. Nathan's arms circled around Charlotte's back and pulled her tighter to him.

His eyes were wide with wonderment and shock. She was here with him. She was alive.

"Oh, God," Nathan cried out to heaven. "Thank you."

He pressed his eyes shut, letting the tears of gratitude spring forth as he buried his face into the curve of Charlotte's neck, shielding his feelings in the secure curtain of her hair. Nathan's biceps bunched as he drew her firmly to his chest.

Charlotte's head rested in the crook of his shoulder. Nathan's breath was warm and comforting on her skin. One of her hands found its way to his chest to feel Nathan's heart beating wildly.

He was here. He was real.

Their love was real.

"Where's Beck?" Nathan gritted through his teeth.

"He's dead. Oh, God. Nathan, I killed him. I hit him with a stone… there was blood… and he just crumpled." Charlotte sobbed out the words. Her body shook with emotion. Nathan softly uttered words of comfort in her ear, confirming that she was now safe in his arms, and he would never let her go again. His unsteady hands rubbed up and down her back in a reassuring manner, trying to console them both in the process.

"I thought you were on your way to Fort MacLeod," Charlotte mentioned as her sobs began to quiet.

"I was. Then last night, a voice told me I needed to come home to you. I'm glad I listened."

"Me too."

After a long moment, just holding each other, Nathan pulled his head back as far as Charlotte allowed. Her grip around his neck hadn't let up, as if she was afraid he would vanish if she loosened her hold. He studied her face for a moment, trying to contain his out-of-control breathing. His heart hammered against his chest.

"Oh, Charlie," Nathan whispered, reaching a trembling hand forward to carefully cup the side of Charlotte's face. She grimaced in pain when his thumb brushed against the swollen edge of her injury. He could see the dark greens and deep purples of a bruise starting to make its presence known below her smoky grey eyes. "I'm so sorry. I should have known. I should have been there..."

"There is nothing to be sorry for," she cut him off. "You never left me," Charlotte pulled back slightly and touched her hand to her chest. "You were always right here, in my heart, when and where I needed you most. And you're here now. That's all that matters."

She moved her hand up and placed it over Nathan's that was still holding her cheek gingerly. She twisted slightly and placed a gentle kiss against the inside of his wrist and palm, before shifting her eyes back to Nathan's loving gaze. Her hand returned to his chest, where her thumb began to gently rub back and forth across one of the gold buttons of his serge. The familiar feeling of the jacket, or rather the familiar feeling of the man beneath the uniform, against her fingertips seemed to calm her senses and bring her heart rate back to normal.

Nathan shifted his focus, noticing the rest of Charlotte's battered body. He trailed his hand softly down her neck and along her exposed collarbone to Charlotte's shoulder. Wishing his touch could magically heal all the scratches and tears across her flesh. Nathan realized for the first time, the light sprinkling of freckles, like those that dotted Charlotte's cheeks and nose, also dusted other parts of her body like this area along the top of her shoulder. He heard Charlotte's breath catch, and felt a shiver course through her body, as his finger tenderly traced across her skin, connecting together each of the freckles that were exposed through her shredded blouse.

It was then though he noticed the torn and bloodied area of Charlotte's upper skirt and he felt the bile rise in his throat.

He had been too late.

Nathan swallowed repeatedly. The muscles in his body tensed.

He had failed her.

Oh, God. Please let Charlotte forgive me. Nathan prayed silently.

"Did he…" Nathan's voice cracked with emotion. His breath was labored as his eyes fixed on where Charlotte's blood seeped into the fabric of her skirt. Nathan found himself unable to look into her face for confirmation of what he already knew was true.

"Did he... hurt you?" Nathan tried to be strong, but he felt his heart breaking into a million pieces.

Not for himself, but for her.

"No."

Nathan's head snapped up. He wasn't sure he had heard her correctly.

"No, Nathan," Charlotte's fingers brushed along his jawline to his chin, tilting his face to look at her so she knew he understood exactly what she was saying. "He didn't hurt me. Not in that way... This is just a scratch from me being clumsy and falling."

Charlotte had expected to see a massive sense of relief paint across Nathan's face, but what she saw instead, sent a wave of warmth, of love, through her whole body. His reaction brought a fresh surge of tears to her eyes.

Instead of a look of happiness knowing she was unravished, Nathan's expressions only revealed to her what she already knew, his steadfast and unwavering love.

It was then Charlotte understood that even if Beck had succeeded, Nathan's feelings for her would not have changed. His only concern was her.

Her hurts and pains. Her struggles.

He never let himself be the center of anyone's attention and worries. His feelings and happiness never seemed to matter, but they mattered to her. Immensely.

Charlotte knew that whatever the outcome of her time alone with Beck would have been, Nathan would still be there. Supporting and caring for her through it all. Loving her completely. Even if it had taken the closeness and the intimacy of their relationship back to the dreaded beginning, when she couldn't even look him in the eye. When she couldn't be within a foot of his body without panic rising into her chest.

He would have loved her through it. All over again.

No questions asked. No woe is me.

His cares and concerns would only be about her. And if… if she had become with child again, Charlotte knew with unwavering faith, the child would be Nathan's. He would love that baby as if it were his own, because in every sense of the word, he would be their dad.

Charlotte remembered Nathan's direct and to the point words to her the morning of Elizabeth's wedding.

"Charlotte. I waited three years for the wrong woman. I will wait a lifetime for the right one. And whether you believe it or not, you are the right woman for me. So, whenever you are ready to let love in. I'll be here."

And here he was. Holding her and supporting her. If Beck had succeeded in his attempts, Charlotte knew that Nathan would always still be there for her. Loving her back to him. Even if it took a lifetime.

"You're freezing," Nathan stated, running his hand up and down Charlotte's exposed arms, hoping the friction would provide her with some warmth. "Take my serge."

"But, what about you?" concern laced Charlotte's voice.

"I'll be fine. It's you, I'm worried about."

He stepped back slightly to lift his Sam Browne belt from his shoulder, laying it to the ground beside his rifle. Then turning back to Charlotte, he popped the top button on his collar, while running his right hand through his disheveled hair at the same time. Then his long fingers expertly continued the process of unbuttoning each gold fasten down the front of his uniform. He reached up and swiftly pulled the garment from his shoulders and back.

"Here," Nathan said, holding the serge out by the collar for Charlotte to slip into. She turned her back to him and quickly placed one arm then the other into the sleeves, as Nathan helped guide the tunic into position on her tender shoulders. Charlotte pivoted in his arms, so she again faced Nathan, as he pulled the lapels together across her chest. She noted the surprise shot of desire that seemed to wreck him at the intimacy of his action.

"Yeah, this feels better," her voice was husky under the warm embrace of not only the jacket, but also Nathan's loving and intense gaze. The sleeves on the serge were too long for her arms and the fabric hung past her fingertips, but that didn't stop Charlotte from placing her hands onto Nathan's sides and leaning in close. "Thank you for warming me up."

"Well, isn't this sweet?"

Charlotte felt her legs buckle. The only thing that stopped her from falling back to the ground was Nathan's steady grip on her waist. She turned out of his arms to see what she knew was already there.

"Beck…" Charlotte's thoughts were flying so fast she could barely latch on to any of them- her mind was processing every detail around her, trying to find some way to stop what was coming. Her ears rang with the sound of her blood pounding. She must have been breathing, but she could no longer feel the air in her chest. "I thought you were…"

"Dead? You think your little rock was going to do me in? Sure, it gave me a nice bump on my head, and some time on the cold, hard ground, but darling you should know it's going to take more than that to finish me off," Beck spouted before turning his attention to Nathan. "Nice to see you again, constable. I don't believe we were properly introduced the last time. My name is…"

"I know exactly who you are," Nathan's voice was terse.

"You didn't seem to before. When I was in your office and…"

"Enough!" Nathan bit back, stopping Beck from spewing his vile.

Beck looked back and forth from Charlotte to Nathan. His eyes widened and he slowly nodded to himself. Ignoring Nathan, he looked at Charlotte and asked, "Does he know?"

Charlotte didn't answer.

"Know what?" Nathan asked, his voice rising.

She felt a flush creep into her cheeks, and Beck spoke with incredulous delight. "Of course, he doesn't know, does he? Beck laughed, almost to himself. "Why in the world would you tell him? No man wants to know the woman he loves has been with another man. No man wants another's leftovers. His scraps. Not when he could have some beautiful, rich shipping heiress to help advance his career in the Mounties."

"Stop!" Nathan's voice boomed.

Beck tilted his head to the side and grinned. "Funny. That's exactly what Charlotte was screaming when…"

Nathan lunged at Beck, but before he could make contact, Beck removed a pistol from behind his back and pressed it directly to Nathan's chest. Stopping his advances. Charlotte reached forward, grabbing Nathan's arm, and pulled him back towards her. Away from the loaded muzzle of Beck's gun.

"Beck," Charlotte spoke softly. Hoping by using his name and a gentle tone, she could diffuse the precarious situation she and Nathan currently found themselves in.

She blamed herself. Why hadn't she stopped to see if he was still breathing before running away and just assuming she had killed him? Why had she and Nathan spent all this time holding each other when they should have been finding help? As always it came back to her and her stupid choices.

Those choices were going to cost her everything.

"Beck," Charlotte began again. "It doesn't have to be this way. Just let us go. We won't follow you. Go live your life. Run away from here. Start anew. If forgiveness is what you are searching for… I give it to you."

She saw Nathan's jaw clench at the idea of letting Beck go free, but in this moment, Charlotte saw no other way out of this, other than to promise his freedom.

"I don't need your forgiveness, Charlotte," Beck coldly stated, swaying slightly.

Charlotte clearly saw the expression he gave. Beck believed he had done no wrong in his past. While Charlotte felt she was being torn apart by hers.

"And why would I run away? I obviously have the upper hand here. You are in no position to be making the demands. You see, I have this…" Beck lifted the pistol slightly, drawing their attention to it.

"All you have is… him," Beck directed a disgusted glance at Nathan to which Nathan met in intensity as his fists tightened at his sides.

"Charlotte, run," Nathan pleaded in her direction. "Run back down the direction I came from. Newton is tied at the edge of the road."

"Ah, ah, ah. I don't think so," Beck twisted his wrist, shifting the gun back and forth in his grip. "Nobody is leaving here until this is settled."

Charlotte's eyes found Nathan's. Please. Go. He mouthed, willing her to understand that he needed her safe. Her eyes grew big, and she shook her head, unwilling to leave him. Nathan returned his attention fully to the man who still had a gun aimed shakily at his chest and prayed for guidance.

At that moment, Nathan realized something. Beck had been almost constantly moving since he had arrived. Except for when Nathan lunged at Beck, he and Charlotte had stood nearly frozen in place, hypnotized. And now Charlotte was too near. Nathan's awareness and sudden tension drew Beck's attention. As he followed Nathan's gaze, his own attention landed on Charlotte. Before she could move, Beck slid an arm around her waist, his fingers moving across her back, curving into her side, and pulling her close to him. Nathan stiffened. Beck looked down at Charlotte and smiled broadly.

"Hello daarrrling," Beck slurred. "Yet again, it would seem that no matter how far you run, you can't get away from me, can you?"

While Beck turned his attention to Charlotte, Nathan took the opportunity to take a step or two back towards where his rifle rested against the tree just out of reach.

"Not so fast there, constable."

Nathan glanced up to see the barrel of the gun again pointed directly at his chest. He trained his eyes to focus on Beck, but he couldn't help noticing the heavy rise and fall of Charlotte's chest as she was again captured by the monster from her past.

"Beck, what is your plan here?" Nathan calmly questioned. Even with his adrenaline surging and heightening every sense, he tried to focus on the weapon swinging erratically in front of them.

"I would have thought that was obvious by now, constable," Beck's disgusting hand slid up Charlotte's side towards her chest and his grip tightened.

"Don't," Nathan gritted, trying to hold the desperation of his voice in check. "Don't touch her."

"Do you enjoy betting in poker games, Grant?"

"No," Nathan choked out the word and Charlotte noted a new level of pain crossing over his features. Beck's simple question had ignited the smoldering embers of Nathan's past with his father and Archie's gambling problem.

"Hmmm," Beck responded. "That's unfortunate. I would have loved to play against you, as your face gives away so much. I would have enjoyed taking away everything you had."

"Beck, stop this," Charlotte begged. "I'll go with you."

Nathan's eyes shot to hers as he shook his head no. Charlotte had to look away from his silent plea.

"I'll go with you," Charlotte's voice broke. "You just have to let Nathan go and promise me that nothing will ever happen to him or anyone else in Hope Valley."

"His promise means nothing, Charlotte. Don't do this. Don't sacrifice yourself for this monster." Nathan's voice was raspy.

"I'm not doing this for him," Charlotte's body shook uncontrollably as she saw the realization pass over Nathan.

"The Mountie here is right. Why would I make that promise? Last night, you said you would come with me in exchange for leaving everyone undisturbed back in Hope Valley. And look where that has got us. Constable Grant, here and unarmed…" Beck worked to steady the gun at Nathan again.

"If you do this. If you shoot him, you will have every single Mountie in the country searching for us. There will be no such thing as a safe place for you to hide," Charlotte tried to keep her voice as calm as possible, but all she saw was Nathan on the wrong end of a loaded gun and her heart threatening to stop beating at any moment.

"That's why you are coming with me," Beck's grip bit into her side. "You're my ticket out of this, Charlotte. Remember what I said? You are what is going to save me in the end. I need you by my side."

Charlotte realized what he was alluding to. He planned to use her as a human shield for any future run-ins with the law.

"Let her go, McEntire," Nathan glared. "If you do, we can make a plea deal for you with the judge in town."

"The time for making deals is long over," Beck mocked. "Charlotte listed plenty of your fine qualities, Mountie, but being ridiculously headstrong was not one of them."

"Let her go, Beck," Nathan repeated, in as calm of voice as he could muster. "Take me instead."

"I didn't come here for you, I came here for her," Beck laughed heartily as he moved the barrel of the pistol from Nathan to rest against Charlotte's chin. "She belongs to me."

"She's not yours!" Nathan yelled. "I've told you once before McEntire, Charlotte is her own woman. She doesn't belong to you. She doesn't belong to me."

"Want to bet?" Beck leaned down to nuzzle his face in the crook of Charlotte's neck, causing a tormented gasp to come from deep within her.

Nathan's fists clenched and he took a threatening step towards Beck.

Beck just grinned as he again directed the pistol at Nathan's chest and cocked the hammer.

"Nathan. No. Please don't," Charlotte's voice begged him as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

Beck noticed her reaction and gave a malicious grin. "Ah. There it is, darling. I've been waiting all this time, to see what I could do to cause you to break. Charlotte, I thought you told me that nothing I did to you really matters anymore, but that appears to be a lie. If that was a fabrication, can I trust anything that's come out of your pretty, little mouth since we've been together again?"

Charlotte felt the bile rise in her throat. She had told Beck that. When she honestly thought that nothing he did to her could hurt her worse than he already had. When she honestly never expected to see Nathan again. When she knew that no matter what Beck did to her, he couldn't take away the love of a God and a man she cared so much for.

That ripple effect she had dreaded, was coming true. Her past was threatening to take away everything she loved.

And it would be all her fault.

"How poetic is this ending, Charlotte," Beck's whiskey-soaked breath on her cheek, made her retch. "Two star-crossed lovers, each willing to sacrifice their life for the other…"

"Beck!" Charlotte couldn't take it anymore and she began to fight against Beck's side. "Please…"

Nathan took the opportunity with the distraction Charlotte was creating to reach beside him for the rifle, but it was all too late.

The boom reverberated off the mountains behind them, loud but not so deafening that Charlotte missed the unmistakable thwump of a bullet boring into flesh or the gasp of surprise. She jerked around just in time to see Nathan falter. His eyes widened with shock and pain before a frown deeply furrowed his brows.

Then Beck laughed, releasing Charlotte, and pushing her forward out of his arms to fly to Nathan's side. He wanted to see the agony it caused her. To have something she claimed to love so fiercely taken away from her.

Charlotte lunged to catch Nathan before he fell. Anguish ripped through her soul when a vibrant pool of blood spread across Nathan's shoulder. A strangled scream burned her throat. She sank to the ground with him cradled into her arms.

"Oh, God. Nathan," Charlotte cried, trying to lay Nathan's body to the ground as gently as she could under his weight. Slipping his serge off her shoulders she placed it under his head to support him from the cold ground. She reached up and tore the rest of her shredded sleeve from her blouse, using it to put pressure on the wound. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should have never come here… I should have never put your life in danger."

"Ssshhh," Nathan reached a hand forward to cup Charlotte's cheek. "Don't say that. I couldn't imagine my life without you in it."

Charlotte shook her head as she clamped her eyes shut. She was furious. Not only with Beck, but herself. Here was Nathan Grant, dying in her arms and he still only felt the need to comfort her. She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't take the guilt of her inactions. Charlotte reached a hand up to squeeze Nathan's that he still held to her cheek. She removed his hand from her face and placed it over hers that was applying pressure to the wound.

"Hold this here, okay?" She leaned close and whispered in Nathan's ear before grabbing for his rifle and in one swift motion, Charlotte rose and leveled the weapon at Beck with unshakable hands and a steady eye focused straight down the barrel to Beck's nonexistent heart. Mild surprise showed on his face as he was not prepared for her sudden defensive move and had put the gun away again behind his back.

He raised his hands, palms out, disarmingly. "Whoa, darling. You won't shoot me?"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't, Beck."

"First off, you would never kill a man."

"I thought I had already killed you. A second time shouldn't hurt any worse than the first."

"You sure do have a smart mouth on you, darling," a strange look flitted over Beck's face, then vanished. He snorted. "Also, since when did you learn how to shoot a gun?"

"Did you forget, Beck?" Charlotte held the gun confidently, casually, and without fear as she cocked back the hammer. "I grew up on a ranch. I knew how to ride and shoot a gun before I even went to school. I learned early on when a sick beast needs to be put out of its misery."

As Beck stared at her, a strange look came over his face again. He shook his head. The movement was so slight Charlotte hardly saw it, even though they stood face-to-face. Even though he was looking straight at her, his eyes were distant.

Charlotte met his gaze evenly, refusing to flinch. Part of her actually felt sorry for him. Sorry that he would never seek the forgiveness his soul so obviously needed.

Today, Beck knew exactly who he was- a monster. There was no fiendish light in his eyes, only darkness and death. His were the eyes and misery of a corroded and decaying soul, of one who despised life yet fought for it.

Charlotte felt herself soften slightly. She had decided to extend grace one last time. "Beck, it doesn't have to be this way. Give up your weapon and turn yourself in. Seek God's forgiveness, even if you won't take it from anyone else."

"You'd still forgive me, even after killing him?" Beck's eyes darkened, as he glanced at Nathan on the ground. "Do you think Constable Grant here would forgive me after everything that's happened between you and I?"

"Nathan is nothing like you," Charlotte proudly stated. "If he knew you were truly sorry, neither Nathan nor my judgments matter."

"Right. Only your God gets to decide where I go on my final day. Well Charlotte, I'm not sorry for how tragic of an ending this will be for you two."

"Beck, what you don't realize is this isn't Nathan's tragedy. It's not even my tragedy- it's yours."

Beck's eyes darkened. His eyes searched her face.

"Charlotte," Nathan's broken voice rasped. Her eyes shifted down to where he lay on the frost covered ground beside her for only a moment, but it was a moment too long.

When Charlotte realized her mistake and her focus returned to Beck, she was staring down the barrel of his loaded pistol.

Their trigger fingers shifted into position at the same time.

Two more shots rang out.

One more body fell to the ground.

Did you cry in this chapter?

*Author Note: (Raises hand) I Cried- From Start to Finish…